Laurie Beechman News

This February and March 54 BELOW presents an exciting lineup of the brightest talent from Broadway and beyond. Located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street. For a detailed schedule of upcoming performances at 54 Below and to purchase tickets, visit www.54Below.com.

On Monday, February 2nd at 9:30pm, performers will gather to perform A-Sides: The Songs of Anna K. Jacobs at the Laurie Beechman Theatre.

Tonight, January 29th, Broadway Sessions reunites cast members from Side Show and more.

The line up includes: Trevor Bachman, Lauren Elder, Brian Feinstein, Daniel Lincoln, and Alexander Sage Oyen. Hosted by Bobby Cronin. Produced by Tiffany Schleigh.

BROADWAY SESSIONS is described as an evening of musical performances, games and open mic featuring a new Broadway guest each week. The show is created and hosted by Ben Cameron (Bway Wicked, Aida and Footloose) and features musical director Joshua Stephen Kartes on piano. This Thursday, 1-29, Broadway Sessions reunites cast members from Side Show and more.

Texas musical theatre composer Benjamin Brundrett Wright makes his New York City concert debut at the Laurie Beechman Theatre tonight, January 24th with FEEL THE WHIPLASH: Songs for Throwing Popcorn & Chasing Whales! The concert is presented as part of Lone Star Theatre Co's TX MUSIC / NY STAGES concert series which brings Texas composers to New York City.

4@15: Four New Fifteen-Minute Musicals, performed in conjunction with NYU Steinhardt, will commence performances this weekend, January 24 and 25, for five performances only at The Pless Hall Black Box Theatre, featuring new works from writers Lizzie Hagstedt & Alex Rubin, Daphny Maman & Sujin Kim, Benjamin Velez & Kathryn Hathaway, and Caleb Hoyer & Kevin Michael Murphy. Ben Baker serves as Music Director; Brian Blythe directs.

artist Athena Reich stars as Lady Gaga in #ARTBIRTH, an outrageous evening of art and pop. It will be presented February 13 & 27 and March 13 & 27 at Laurie Beechman Theatre.

4@15: Four New Fifteen-Minute Musicals, performed in conjunction with NYU Steinhardt, will commence performances this weekend, January 24 and 25, for five performances only at The Pless Hall Black Box Theatre, featuring new works from writers Lizzie Hagstedt & Alex Rubin, Daphny Maman & Sujin Kim, Benjamin Velez & Kathryn Hathaway, and Caleb Hoyer & Kevin Michael Murphy. Ben Baker serves as Music Director; Brian Blythe directs.

Golden Globe nominee Nikki Blonsky (Hairspray; "Huge"), Mara Davi (A Chorus Line; Death Takes A Holiday), and Christine Dwyer (Wicked; Rent) join previously announced Tony Award winner Tonya Pinkins (Caroline, or Change), Jenna Leigh Green ("Sabrina, the Teenage Witch"), Laurissa Romain ("Top Five"), Joshua Colley (Les Miserables), Ovation Award nominee Erika Amato (Flashdance), Kimberly Faye Greenberg (Danny and Sylvia), Abigail Ludrof (The HVAC Plays), and Emily Esposito (A Christmas Story) as the special guest stars for Tim Realbuto's Maury Yeston tribute concert Bookseller in the Rain.

Tonight, January 22nd, Broadway Sessions will hold it's first ever 'Broadway Game Night'. 2 teams of Broadway favorites will go head to head in a series of hilarious games and challenges. Resulting in 'Swan Song' musical performances. Scheduled to 'play' are Charl Brown, Jessica Hendy, Peter Gregus, Ta'Rea Campbell, Mike Schwitter and Ellyn Marie Marsh.

As the days dwindled down to a precious few in 2014, a few cabaret goers and performers in what is affectionately but also self-mockingly called the “cabaret community” would sidle up and ask if I was planning my annual end-of-the year “Best Of” column, similar to the “Top 20 Bests and Favorites” piece over the first half of the year I posted back in early July. I would respond in the negative with very reasonable and believable excuses, but the truth is I didn't want to reveal my “Bests” of the year until the voting for the 2014 BroadwayWorld New York Cabaret Awards had ended. There's enough baggage and backstage whispering that comes with administering the BWW Awards, so I wasn't about to publish any opinions that might influence the vote while it was in process. I may be crazy but I'm not masochistic. But now all bets are off. You want lists? I'll give you lists.

This Thursday, January 22nd, Broadway Sessions will hold it's first ever "Broadway Game Night". 2 teams of Broadway favorites will go head to head in a series of hilarious games and challenges. Resulting in "Swan Song" musical performances. Scheduled to "play" are Charl Brown, Jessica Hendy, Peter Gregus, Ta'Rea Campbell, Mike Schwitter and Ellyn Marie Marsh.

After eight years of terrifically entertaining, monthly fundraisers at The Laurie Beechman Theater, Cabaret Cares/Help Is On The Way Today is on the move! The 501c non-profit organization that assists children and youth living with HIV/AIDS is relocating to new digs. The first event of 2015 will be held on January 25th at Metropolitan Room, where the charity's founder, Joseph Macchia, is the co-booking manager with owner Bernie Furshpan. Cabaret entertainer Gretchen Reinhagen will host "Lovely Ladies Of Cabaret" with Jennylind Parris, Karen Mason, Tracy Stark, and Joanna Morton Gary. Gretchen will also perform. Metropolitan Room is in the fashionable Flatiron District at 34 West 22nd Street between 5th and 6th Avenues.

Texas musical theatre composer Benjamin Brundrett Wright makes his New York City concert debut at the Laurie Beechman Theatre on January 24th with FEEL THE WHIPLASH: Songs for Throwing Popcorn & Chasing Whales! The concert is presented as part of Lone Star Theatre Co's TX MUSIC / NY STAGES concert series which brings Texas composers to New York City.

Stable Cable Lab Co. has announced the cast and plays for the second annual LiveWire: An Evening of New Short Plays at the Laurie Beechman Theatre, 407 West 42nd Street, NYC on Sunday, January 25. Doors will open at 5:30pm for food and drinks and the performance will begin at 7pm. The evening will feature five world premieres of ten-minute plays by Nat Cassidy, Breanna Foister, Stephen Gracia, Collin McConnell, and Christopher Gabriel Nuñez, and will take you from the 1960s through the 2000s, with live music by YouTube sensation, Taylor Fererra. Dressing up in attire from your favorite decade is encouraged (but not required) and tickets can be purchased for $15 at www.livewire2014.brownpapertickets.com, with a $20 food and drink minimum.

Joshua Colley, who starred as Les in Broadway's Newsies, and is currently originating the role of Gavroche in the Broadway revival of Les Miserables, has just joined the lineup of special guest stars for Tim Realbuto's Maury Yeston tribute concert Bookseller in the Rain.

Lindsey Alley brings her acclaimed one woman show to The COPA Palm Springs for two performances, January 16 and 17, at 8:00 pm. Lindsey has been performing in theatre, television and film since the age of six. In 1989, Lindsey was cast as a Mouseketeer on the Disney Channel's All New Mickey Mouse Club, performing alongside Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Ryan Gosling and Keri Russell. She was one of only three cast members to appear in the pilot and all seven seasons of the show. On Broadway, Lindsey covered the role of Older Helen in Hollywood Arms (written by Carol Burnett and directed by Harold Prince). In 2006, her one-woman show, Look Ma...No Ears ran for six weeks at the Laurie Beechman Theatre in New York City. I had the chance to catch up with Lindsey, on her lunch break from rehearsals for the Broadway bound FIRST WIVES CLUB, as she was preparing for her Palm Springs weekend. Here are a few excerpts from that conversation.

Tony Award winner Tonya Pinkins (Caroline, or Change) and Ovation Award nominee Erika Amato (Flashdance) have just joined the lineup of special guest stars for Tim Realbuto's Maury Yeston tribute concert Bookseller in the Rain.

Eli Tokash & Mitchell Sink performed 'I Will Never Leave You' at Broadway Sessions on December 4th, 2014. Broadway Sessions performs every Thursday at 11:00PM at the Laurie Beechman Theatre, 42nd & 9th, NYC. Hosted by Ben Cameron with Joshua Stephen Kartes on piano. Check out their perdformance below!